It’s not the building or the member group that constitutes the House of God.  No matter how wealthy, well-equipped or broad the membership of a particular church, regardless of denomination the Bible is exceedingly clear that Christians are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit testifies that we are the children of the Most High God, not the pope, the elders or some convention of wise men.  None of us is closer to God than any other Christian, although some might walk more closely in fellowship, Jesus is very clear that we are servants to each other.  The dominance and top-down leadership of the church without maintenance or adherence to the Word of the Lord is in direct violation of doctrine and truth.  The proclivity to twist, manipulate or over/under interpret the Word in order to fit some eisegetical justification for a church’s mismanagement is in direct opposition to the direction of the King of Kings.  Have pastor’s, church elders and business managers lost their fear of the Lord?  Have they forgotten that their actions will be MORE CLOSELY reviewed and judged for their capacity to create havoc or lead multitudes astray?  It is entirely foolhardy to trifle with God.

To individual members of a Church I leave you with one illustration.  If you have a polluted glass of water, turned brown by its various contents, dirt, feces, oil and other sins no matter how much of that glass you replace with clean water it will still be impure.  We cannot clean the glass ourselves.  Our attempts to present our “nearly pure” glasses of water to the Lord are futile.  We cannot become pure on our own.  We must be washed clean of our pollutants by the blood of the Lamb.  Born again to occupy a new body untainted by the sins of our dead souls, gone to the cross with Christ.  We must be empty in order for the Lord to fill us with the Living Water, Holy, Pure and Righteous by His Works.  New wine, new wine-skins.  Present your bodies as a Holy sacrifice where He may reside in this world.  God is Righteous, Holy and Just.  He cannot abide sin and that includes sin in the Temple (our bodies).  Surrender to Him and let Him cleanse you of unrighteous so that He may live with you in this life and the next.  Praise You Glorious Father, Lord Jesus our King.